Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express to the Theater

Wait, wait. Hold up.

Sorry, I don't quite follow.

You're talking about the three days leading up to the event?

-Yes, all this time. -All right, sorry. Got it.

What did you think we were talking about?

But just to be clear…

This does all link back up with how Makina ended up like this?

Yeah…

-Okay, start again from the top. -Ugh!

Hold it, hold it. Just a moment.

This is your report on the three days leading up to the runaway train?

-Yes! How many times do I have to-- -I know it doesn't make sense, but if--

All right, all right. Just--

One at a time, please!

Sorry, please start from the top.

-Ugh! Again? Really? -From the top?

3 DAYS AGO, NEO MACHIDA POLICE STATION 12 HOURS AFTER CHIHARU AND MAKINA'S ARREST

Hey Makina, we're so out of place here.

Don't look at them.

-Look at those two. So shady. -I said don't look.

We live in different worlds.

I'm scared. Won't they start a fight?

Then stop looking.

Okay, thanks for waiting.

If you're in this room, that means you were recently arrested around here.

I'm going to call your names and reason for arrest.

Let me know if I get anything wrong.

-Max MacCallister? -Yes.

-Kurt Cramer? -Yes.

Here on possession of illegal sugar?

-Yes. -Yep.

-Kanata Iwao? -Me.

Akane Daidoji?

Yes.

-Here for speeding? -Yes.

-Chiharu Kujo. -Yes.

-Makina Kurusu. -Yes.

Speeding, obstruction of police, and blowing up a patrol car.

-Yes. -Yes.

Seriously?

-Blowing up a patrol car? -I heard about that.

What an insane line-up.

Okay, now everyone take a look at the printout you have in front of you.

You'll see they include details on the program you are about to take part in.

-Max would you read the first line? -Huh?

Um, "Community Service Program. The Ginkyo Police Department,

under the jurisdiction of the United Stars of Barnadia…"

"Completion of the sentence

is subject to the assessment of the supervising officer."

Okay, good job, everyone.

Now, everyone understand the program?

-Not at all. -So we work here now?

-I hate legalese. -In turns, please!

-How do we complete this anyway? -Quiet. Quiet.

So basically the prison's full,

so we gotta serve our sentence through community service?

Yeah, that's about it.

-Then just say so. -You understood all this?

-Quiet please. -Hey, my desk is wobbly.

Are there any questions?

-I have one. -Yes, Ms. Kujo.

How long do we have to do this community service?

You'll generally be here for about a week.

-That's far too long! -I expected just five hours!

-A week? -Okay, be quiet, everyone. Shut up.

-Any other questions? -Here.

What is it?

What exactly are we doing for this "community service"?

I said-- oh, that's actually a pretty valid question.

This here is the Galactic Limited Express, otherwise known as the Milky Subway.

Its official name is the AM24.

It was made by Titan Industry in the earth calendar year 72,

and it is now managed by Chubu Railway Company.

As you can see, it's become very dirty over many years of continuous use.

As such, your job today is to clean the carriages.

"Clean Up The Milky Subway." This is your community service.

-Yuck, I didn't expect this. -Well, this is a pain.

Enough!

I will now announce the carriages assigned to each team.

Kurt and Max. Carriages three and four.

Kanata and Akane. Carriages five and six.

Which leaves carriages seven and eight for you ladies.

Carriages one and two have escape pods and other precision equipment,

so we'll leave them for someone else.

Go on then. Get to work.

-Ugh, I don't wanna do this. -This is like being back at school.

Where are you two going?

-Take a dump. -Take a leak.

Literally child labor.

-Well, shall we get started? -Yeah.

We'll start from… Wait.

Whoa, is that a Chronos CP?

I don't believe this!

What's so great about that?

Titan used to make these all-purpose control panels at one point,

but the default defense systems sucked ass

so their cost-effectiveness was really--

-What about this? -Hm?

-Oh, that's O.T.A.M. -O.T.A.M.?

She's the Outer-space Transportation Animatronics Manager.

She was supposed to speak using AI,

but I guess she wasn't popular and they stopped using her.

Really…

Hey, can she talk?

-I doubt it. She's probably broken. -Hello? Hello? Talk to me.

-Hey, Chi. Come look at this. -What is it?

Come look at this symbol.

-Hm? It can turn into a robot? -Yeah.

All vehicles with Chronos CPs can do it.

-But I can't imagine how-- -Thank you for using…

Whoa!

Ugh, don't scare me.

What are they doing in there?

Oops! Sorry, boss.

-Boss? -There's blood.

-So, this train we're about to clean. -Yeah?

You heard that weird urban legend about it?

Nah.

Well, they say there was another group of inmates

cleaning up the train on community service,

just like we're about to do.

And?

Well, they all started killing each other.

All sorts of crazy shit started happening.

You don't say.

So they say the train's cursed, or something like that.

Hmm…

-That's real scary. -It is, isn't it?

Hey, O.T.A.M.

O.T.A.M. What's today's weather?

T-Today, Shin-Shin-Kisaragi, G-Ginkyo will be s-sunny--

Hey, O.T.A.M.

-O.T.A.M. Calm down. -Stop playing with her.

-She's so cute! -That's not cute at all.

And hey, this train's gotta be completely busted if O.T.A.M.'s in such a state.

Why's that?

Well, the main computer's gotta be busted,

which means this train's not exactly safe to run.

Oh, wow.

I know they sometimes ran these things without the proper safety checks.

-Yeah? -Confirming safety checks.

-All aboard. -That's kinda scary. Huh?

-What? -Huh?

What was that?

Huh?

Oh no!

Asami!

Asami! Asami!

Uh, the train… the train!

It just… started moving!

The detain-- not detainees. The, uh, the inmates!

The inmates are in there!

They're gone without a supervisor!

I dunno where they're going!

-You know, you got me into this. -Huh?

We were both done for speeding, but you were the driver.

Yeah, but I only sped because of your music--

You sped up when the police came and shot down one of their robots.

-I panicked, okay? -You still can't do that!

I never wanted to drive in the first place.

You made me, which means it's your fault.

Shall I get the popcorn?

4 DAYS AGO 2 HOURS AFTER CHIHARU AND MAKINA'S ARREST

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Your background checks took a while.

And Makina, you come from a good family, don't you?

My family's got nothing to do with this.

Well, I guess not.

And this isn't your first encounter with the police, now, is it?

Ah… No, it's not.

I found your mugshots in our database.

This is you from fifth grade, yes?

-Wow, that takes me back. -What were we in for?

-Isn't that from when you knocked Ken out? -Oh, Ken Izu?

This Ken. Was he the male victim?

Yeah. Chiharu's ex. He was a right piece of shit.

-Was he? -Oh, he wasn't that bad.

He left Chiharu waiting for six hours. He totally stood her up.

-Sounds like trash. -You see? Pure trash.

He's not trash. He said he caught a cold.

-So I punched his lights out. -That was wrong.

-You're always so violent. -Stand up for yourself!

All right, that's enough.

And how about this one? Same issue?

-Makina nearly killed some seniors. -I'm tellin' ya, that was self-defense!

-You sent five students to the hospital. -Pft. Babies.

I kinda felt sorry for them. They just flirted with me.

They were not flirting. You were in real danger.

It's true they didn't exactly have the best of records.

You see? I was right.

-So I beat them good. -Still wrong.

Why do you have to be so violent? It's honestly freaky.

Who's gonna look out for you if not me, huh?

When Furukawa broke your PIKOPO? You never told him!

He said he was real sorry after.

But he never paid for--

What's this?

We hand these out at the local schools. I get the feeling you two could use these.

You calling me a schoolkid?

Why do I need one? She's the one always dragging me into a mess.